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World War II/Transcript (Update)
Transcript Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby Moby, is watching a TV program about World War II. Tim walks in. TV NARRATOR: With the Allied advances in the Ruhr Valley, the German army was on the run. Incendiary bombing reduced the industrial city of Wuppertal to rubble… TIM: Every time I come in here, you're watching some World War II show. Tim waves his hand in front of Moby's face to get his attention, but Moby continues to stare at the screen. TV NARRATOR: 100,000 refugees fled the firestorm, scattering into the countryside. Such was the sorry toll of total war. Tim reads from a typed letter. TIM: Dear Tim & Moby, Can you give me a rundown of World War II? From, Primo. MOBY: Beep! TIM: Oh, so now you're with me? World War II was fought between the Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, and Japan. An animation shows the flags of Nazi Germany, Italy, and Japan. TIM: And the Allied Powers: England, France, the Soviet Union, the U.S., and a lot of other smaller countries. An animation shows the flags of England, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States. TIM: Germany was the major aggressor in World War II. It was led by Adolf Hitler, a totalitarian dictator. That means he controlled every aspect of life in the country. Hitler rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, a German political party. An animation shows Nazi troops marching through a city and carrying banners. Adolf Hitler watches from the side and gives the Nazi salute. The animation zooms in on a Nazi flag, featuring a swastika. TIM: The Nazis took control by promising a glorious future for Germany. And stoking anger over the Treaty of Versailles: the peace agreement that had ended World War I in 1919. Germany had agreed to pay huge sums of money to the winners and shrink its military way down. An image shows a copy of the Treaty of Versailles. It opens and a pile of gold coins lands on its pages. An icon of a tank appears and shrinks onto a page. TIM: It also gave up big chunks of territory, one of which split the country in two. An animation shows the page of the treaty turning to reveal a map of Germany before the end of World War I. Sections of territory near its borders are highlighted in different colors. TIM: Hitler vowed to get revenge for this humiliation. He said the Germans were a master race, superior to all other people. It was their destiny to be the most powerful nation on Earth. They would rule over the inferior races, which was basically everyone else. An animation shows Hitler speaking to a large crowd from a podium. Another image shoes a blonde man in a Nazi uniform holding a Nazi flag. He is standing on top of the globe. TIM: Hitler reserved a special hatred for Jewish people. He blamed them for Germany's problems, including the defeat in World War I. An image shows a man looking at a poster featuring anti-Jewish propaganda. MOBY: Beep? TIM: At first, the world stood by as Hitler began his quest for total power. No one wanted to spark another world war. In 1938, he sent troops into Austria, which gave up without much fight. A few months after that, he took over part of Czechoslovakia. It was hoped that he would be satisfied with these two conquests. But soon he was demanding the part of Poland that Germany had given up after World War I. An animation shows a map of Europe, with Germany highlighted in red and marked with the Nazi symbol. The red spreads to Austria and Czechoslovakia and the map highlights a piece of Poland in white. TIM: Britain and France agreed to defend Poland against any aggression. Then, on September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. Two days later, both Britain and France declared war on Germany. The map shows Poland turning red. MOBY: Beep? TIM: At this point, the Soviet Union was actually on Germany's side. So, the two countries divided Poland between them: the Soviets took the eastern part, while the Germans occupied the western half. The animation shows the map of Europe. The western half of Poland is highlighted in the red of the Nazi flag, while the eastern half is marked with the gold hammer and sickle of the Soviet Union flag. TIM: The German army went on to defeat Denmark, Norway, and Luxembourg. Then, over just six weeks in 1940, they overran the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. The countries Tim mentions turn red on the map. TIM: Their style of war was known as blitzkrieg, which means "lightning war." It was a fast, overwhelming invasion. Britain was left to fight the Nazis alone. And animation shows Nazi soldiers riding on tanks and motorcycles. TIM: The German Luftwaffe, or air force, used France as a base to attack England by air. An animation shows German planes dropping bombs over Great Britain. TIM: When the British refused to surrender, the Luftwaffe began the Blitz. It was a relentless bombing campaign targeting London and other cities. An animation shows London buildings on fire as spotlights point toward the sky. TIM: But England's Royal Air Force, or RAF, managed to successfully defend their country. An animation shows RAF fighter planes shooting at German planes. TIM: The U.S. stayed out of the fighting, but supplied England with naval support, weapons, and equipment. Germany expanded its alliances by signing the Tripartite Pact with Japan and Italy. An image shows Adolf Hitler, Emperor Hirohito of Japan, and Benito Mussolini of Italy. TIM: Meanwhile, the Nazi regime had begun arresting, deporting, and killing Jews and other minorities. An animation shows a group of people being loaded onto trains by Nazi guards. The people each wear a yellow star on their sleeve. TIM: This was the start of the Holocaust, the systematic murder of six million Jews. You can learn more about that in our Holocaust movie. An animation shows the train pulling out of the station and arriving at a concentration camp. People look out the few windows, which are covered with barbed wire. MOBY: Beep. TIM: In 1941, the global balance shifted again. Germany broke its pact with the Soviet Union, launching an invasion of its former ally. It proved to be a fatal mistake. The Germans suffered huge losses fighting the massive Soviet Army and the bitter Russian winter. An animation shows a map of Europe. The countries that Germany has occupied are colored red. The western part of the Soviet Union turns red as an inset animation shows German soldiers marching through the snow. TIM: They were forced to retreat. Plus, they secured themselves a new enemy, as the Soviet Union joined the global fight against them. Germany's chances of winning the war were getting very slim. But Hitler refused to give in; he would rather see his country destroyed than surrender. The animation shows the red parts of the Soviet Union turning back to its original color. Another animation shows the screen divided in half. Icons representing the flags of Japan, German, Italy, and the Soviet Union are on one side, while icons representing the flags of Great Britain, the U.S., and France are on the other. The U.S. and French icons are gray. The Soviet Union icon moves from the Axis Powers side of the screen to the Allied Powers side. MOBY: Beep? TIM: The United States finally entered the war after getting attacked on home soil. On December 6, 1941, Japan bombed the naval port at Pearl Harbor, in Hawaii. In response, the U.S. joined up with the Allies, and sent troops to the three areas, or theaters, of war. An animation shows Pearl Harbor being bombed by planes. TIM: One was the Pacific theater, to fight Japan, in an "island-hopping" campaign. In the Mediterranean theater, the Allies fought the Axis powers in North Africa and Italy. And finally, a massive force of Americans, British, and Canadians was sent to fight in France. This was the Western Front of the European theater. Animations show maps of the three theaters of war and their surroundings. The animation zooms into the English Channel between France and England, showing Allied naval ships. TIM: More than 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel from Britain. They landed on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944. This invasion is known as D-Day. The Allies sustained heavy losses, but won a key victory. The screen shows soldiers landing on the beaches of Normandy. TIM: Germany was now trapped between two Allied fronts: Europe in the West and the Soviet Union in the East. An animation shows a map of Europe. Areas occupied by the Allies are highlighted in blue and sandwich German territory, highlighted in red, between the two fronts. The eastern and western parts of German territory gradually turn blue. TIM: After five years and millions of lives lost, the end of the war was finally in sight. German cities were flattened as the Allies pushed in from both sides. When it was clear there was no escape, Hitler took his own life. A week later, on May 7, 1945, Germany surrendered. An animation shows a German city reduced to smoldering rubble. An elderly woman walks through it. MOBY: Beep? TIM: In the Pacific, the Japanese were still holding off American forces. President Truman took a drastic step to end the war. He dropped nuclear bombs on two civilian cities: Hiroshima and then Nagasaki. An animation shows a map of the Pacific theater. It zooms in on Japan and marks Hiroshima and Nagasaki with nuclear bomb icons. TIM: It's the only time an atom bomb has been used in war. Japan surrendered in August 1945. An animation shows a white flag waving over Japan on the map. TIM: So that's World War II: the basics. Does that answer all your questions? MOBY: Beep. Moby shakes his head. TIM: Well…that's what school is for. Moby points the remote at the television and presses "play." Tim stands up from the sofa. TIM: I have a life too, you know. Category:BrainPOP Transcripts Category:BrainPOP Social Studies Transcripts